It was a cold night and we slept in this morning, since only 10 ½ miles separated us from Interstate 5 and a hitch to Ashland, OR. At 6am Bugaboo was up and I could hear him packing and eating breakfast. He got up for a while, then I heard him get back in his tent and the sound of the zipper being zipped on a sleeping bag. He had decided it was too cold to get up and hike, so he returned to the warmth of his sleeping bag. At 6:40am Tabasco was up and moving inside the shelter, so I got up and began packing my gear.
Tabasco and I began the quarter mile dirt road walk back to the trail around 7:15 and left Bugaboo behind. We stayed bundled up the first hour of hiking and passed through lots of brushy, grassy growth over the trail that was covered in frost, our first below freezing night since back in the high Sierra in early July. Though the general direction of the trail was a 2500 foot descent over the 10.5 miles to be hiked, we, of course, had a couple significant climbs and a lot of roller coaster terrain as we made our way toward civilization.
We took a couple of short breaks to remove a layer of clothing, get rocks and debris out of our shoes, and to briefly talk with a logging manager overseeing some timber removal on private property that the trail passed through. We reached Old Highway 99 around 10:45am and proceeded a mile down the sparsely traveled road, which paralleled busy I-5 to an exit and on-ramp on to I-5. Our thumbs were ready, but there was virtually no traffic getting on to I-5 from this semi-remote exit. For about 15 minutes we stood and we were using my Sharpie to improve a homemade sign for Ashland, that some previous hiker had scrawled out on the back of a Budweiser carton.
I was thirsty and decided to walk the 200 yards or so to Callahan’s, a restaurant/lodge that many hikers visit before going on to Ashland. Inside the upscale, but rustic lodge, I waited at the reception/checkout desk as a couple was checking out. An employee asked me if I needed help, so I inquired about the PCT hiker register and about a soda machine. There was no soda machine, but the lodge would sell me a canned soda for $1.50. I requested two and waited for the reception clerk to return. While waiting, another woman working at the lodge invited me to eat breakfast (which was about $15 - $20, by the way). I responded that I was getting a couple of sodas to go and that a friend and I were trying to hitch into Ashland as quickly as possible and we didn’t have time to eat breakfast. The couple checking out overheard my reply (as I had hoped that they would) and they volunteered to take me to Ashland. I told them Tabasco was out at the interstate entrance ramp, still trying to hitch.
So we got in their car and as we drove on to the entrance ramp, pretended to go by Tabasco, before stopping to pick him up, along with our two backpacks. Woo hoo!. What could have been a multi-hour hitch on Labor Day, turned into perfect trail magic just when we needed it. The couple from Eugene, OR drove us all the way into downtown Ashland until we located the block where the Ashland Hostel was located.
After we were dropped off, we found the hostel and just as we were walking up to the front porch to knock on the door, two hikers greeted us from the sidewalk. It was Pancake and Wildberry, a Canadian couple northbound, who have been just ahead or behind us as we’ve made town stops over the last 3 weeks. They informed us that the hostel doesn’t allow any guests in the house from 10am – 5pm and that when they arrived yesterday, they left their backpacks on the front porch for the day. We did the same and walked with the Canadians to Brothers Restaurant, a few blocks into the downtown area, on Main Street. They continued on about town, while Tabasco and I were seated upstairs in the café.
After we had placed our order for lunch, we got out big surprise of the day. I saw Tabasco’s face light up in recognition of someone and when I turned my head to look behind me, my friend, Jessica, who I hadn’t seen since the Anderson home, just past Aqua Dulce, was being seated in the chair directly behind me. We were so surprised and excited to see each other and she gave me a big hug, then introduced me to her boyfriend. Turns out she got off trail while still in Southern California and has been spending time in the Ashland/Shasta City, CA area. We had a chance to catch up on trail and non-trail life and I called Debi in Portland, so she and Jess could reunite by phone. What a small world, and what were the odds of running into someone I know, once they were off trail? Jess and boyfriend, Sunshine, were planning to buy a van later today and may be giving us a ride to Portland tomorrow.
After we left the restaurant, Tabasco and I spent considerable time walking the streets of beautiful Ashland in search of Evo Coffee house. I got an espresso shake, first time for me as I don’t normally spend time in coffee houses. Tabasco and I both had some quality internet time and eventually we left the coffee house for Stone Street Brewing, more my kind of place. We shared a pitcher of porter and some fish and chips and celebrated some real down time with no real hiking or town agenda. Just after 5pm we checked into the hostel and got our much anticipated showers and cleaned our filthy clothes.
In the early evening I spent some more time on the internet at the hostel, while Tabasco made friends with two sisters staying at the hostel, who had been doing some hiking in the Trinity Alps. They dragged me away from the computer to walk into town for ice cream and a walk through Lithia Park. At the park entrance, there were public water fountains featuring water from Lithia Springs. The gals convinced us to taste the mineral laden water, which supposedly restores health and keeps you youthful. It was awful, and I would rather drink cough medicine.
Back to the hostel we walked, then Tabasco and I went back out to find dinner. Most restaurants in this tourist town, that features Oregon’s Shakespeare Festival nine months of the year, were closed for the holiday. Ones that were open were quite pricey. We settled for a beer at a bar, then a sandwich at the restaurant next door to the bar. Returning to the hostel around 10pm, I spent another hour on the internet before heading to the basement bunkhouse designated for the guys. It was a fun day in a beautiful southern Oregon town and we are excited about the break from long hiking days and for our visit to Portland and Seattle. Today’s weather: sunny; low 31, high 70. Today’s mileage: 10.7; cumulative mileage: 1,314.5.
